


Replacement

by fefetasprite



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 04:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fefetasprite/pseuds/fefetasprite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eridan fears pale relationships after Feferi leaves him. Karkat comes along, probably too soon. Highschool human AU, 2nd person POV from Eridan. [Mentioned erisol]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Replacement

**Author's Note:**

> i wouldve done a snazzy au setting but highschool dramz seemed like the best for this prompt.
> 
> gift for elize (nyeh.co.vu) because this was supposed to be done like a month ago but MERRY CHRISTMAS BB. i took some inspiration from your eridan <3
> 
> oh, and humanstuck. i purposely avoided appearance descriptions because everyone has their personal headcanons, but if you wanna know mine i like olive/mediterranean eridan (egyptian or darker greek??) and either albinokat or mexican karkat yee

In a way, you knew it would happen. It might have been premonition, and it might have been just crippling anxiety and paranoia, and you just ended up causing it yourself. That was probably it. It was your damn fault from the beginning, and that was why Fef ditched you. Not even for someone else to be her best friend, just dumped your sorry ass in the school parking lot when you got a little too close and she decided it was too much.

She just. Ripped you apart. You didn’t cry though. Not until you were out of prying eyes, at least. You stood there blankly for a minute or two, grateful that it didn’t start raining like some kind of movie cliché. Nobody asked if you were okay, not even your boyfriend. He wasn’t around. To be fair, he was staying after school to tutor or whatever (a responsibility of being in the math honors society, he had explained with a tired sort or irritation). 

You got in the car with a straight face, drove home completely stoic, walked past your stupid brother ignoring whatever stupid thing he was saying (asshole was home from college for winter break) and made it all the way into your cave of a room. After locking the door, you dutifully made your way to your massive king bed and threw the dark purple covers over your head. Safely a lump under the sheets, you sobbed and sniveled and finally fell asleep. Your dad didn’t even wake you up for dinner, not that you would have wanted it.

\--

In the morning, the tear tracks were still stained in your cheeks and your supposedly-waterproof mascara left streaks when you rubbed your tired eyes. You weren’t sad anymore, though. Unfeeling was what you wanted to be, but it was more of a dull disappointment in reality. You still had to get dressed and go to school. That wouldn’t change. So you put on your sweater and scarf and all the other articles of clothing that contributed to your impeccable sense of style, which certainly wouldn’t be breached by a bad mood.  
You didn’t think about her, you didn’t think about the fight, you didn’t think about anything except plodding through the rest of the week so that your winter break could finally start and you could evade social interactions for a week and a half.

It worked up until physics class, when you were supposed to be doing some sort of ‘fun’ lab, making some sort of sticky globby mess that the more tactile students could play with, and the more troublemaking students could squish in the pages of each other’s notebooks. You didn’t like it. It got under your nails and made a squelching noise that made you wince with disgust.

“Hey.” Your lab partner, a short, seemingly aggressive fellow, caught your attention. “I know you don’t like this goopy shit, but the teacher’s been eyeing you for the whole lab period. Should probably make it look like you did something.” Karkat cared about you in a weird way. The two of you complained and listened to each other for the entirety of most labs, and while it seemed to others that you were both extremely hot-headed and always running your mouths, it wasn’t true. Karkat had a lot of steam to blow off, sure, but it wasn’t to be mean. His friendship was abused by so many, but the last thing Karkat would do is start a fight. In fact, he rarely got beyond blaming it on himself. He returned the favor, too, listened to you mutter and hiss about your family, whatever thing Sollux said wrong, if Feferi had offended you in any way.

But today you were dead silent. And Karkat looked scared.

You quietly did as he suggested and washed the flour out of a dirty beaker, giving a sidelong frowning glance to the Ziploc bag of bluish gel.

When you finished drying it, you turned around, only to nearly trip over your lab partner.

“What the hell, Kar!” It wasn’t loud, but a bit snippy. And Karkat looked a bit irritated by that.

“You’re acting funny,” he observed, arms crossed and staring up at you like he was staging some kind of intervention. “What happened?”

“Nothin’ that concerns you,” you were quick to reply, returning to an even tone and taking another beaker to wash out.

Karkat grabbed your wrist. “Something happened.”

“It’s none a your business. I don’t wanna do this here,” you answered in a hush. Getting the rest of the lab section involved in your stupid friend drama was the last thing you needed, and Karkat loudly trying to counsel you wasn’t helping in the least. Not to mention that Fef was usually your go-to for really talking about something. Karkat was just somebody to talk at. Didn’t he understand that?

He frowned, disgruntled, and shoved another beaker in your face. “Fucking fine. Clean this, while you’re at the sink.” He grumbled and stared at his feet, clearly disappointed. But he wouldn’t stop. You knew he could be persistent.

You’d take the silence for now, and while he was still turned around and moping, you left the beaker in the sink and walked off silently. You’d mastered the art of sneaking around from a young age when you would slink downstairs for a midnight snack long after your dad and brother fell asleep. Your dad caught on of course, and would always leave your picked over dinner still on its plate in the fridge. Anyway, like a breeze, you were swiftly out the door with a bathroom pass in no time, though you knew Karkat would be quick to notice your absence (and take a wild guess as to where you went).

It wasn’t long before he stormed into the bathroom after you, to find you filing your nails by the sinks and barely offering him a glance.

“I’m not stupid. And I’m not deaf either. You think I haven’t heard about Feferi snapping at you in the parking lot?” Karkat gestured at you in an angered sort of way.

You took a step back and bumped the wall, twitching involuntarily at the contact. “Do you really think I’m in a state to talk about this?” Shifting your eyes, you checked for signs of anyone else entering the bathroom.

“You are in THE state to talk about it,” Karkat persisted. “You’re unsettled and need to sort things out.” He looked at you expectantly, and you tightly pursed your lips to show that he wasn’t getting a response too easily.

You didn’t want to talk. Last time you let your heart out to someone, she got fed up with it and ditched you when she had enough of hearing your whining and moaning. Karkat would be the same. He thought he was being a good friend, but it would be the same exact thing. He would get tired of your daily complaints, and for a while maybe he’d pretend he still liked you, but the same thing would happen again. You didn’t say that though. Just stared at him.

“Eridan, I-“ Karkat reached his hands out, palms up. You clasped your hands together. “I just wanted to help. I know what it’s like.” His voice dropped off to a mumble and he dropped his hands. You unclasped yours.

“Kar.” Your voice was a croak. You could have anticipated that, with how poorly your body reacts to being upset. Clearing your throat with a croak, you continued on. “I don’t need someone to lean on. I’ve got my own two feet.”

“Yes you do, holy shit, can’t you see that?” Karkat gestured to you with wild motions. You wanted to step back again, but you were already pressed against the wall. “Can’t you see that your only fucking friend just dumped you? Can’t you see that I want to help? I was the shitty friend once, okay!”

“So what, this is supposed to make up for that? You think you’re gonna feel better if you pretend to care about someone different?” you snapped back. He just admitted it- you were a replacement for him. At least you had the courtesy to say that you didn’t want a replacement Fef.

“No.” He was quiet for a moment, and then looked straight at you. “No!” A bit more adamant this time. “There’s no ‘pretend’. I always have cared, you dolt. I’ve listened to every nauseating detail of every story you’ve told me. I’ve given you advice when you ask for it. What do you think I’ve been doing for the past few months? Gathering gossip so I can sprinkle it around like magic ruin-your-life dust? No, you shithead. I’ve been listening. And I plan to keep it up.”

He looked so sure of himself, as if he’d said completely the right thing. You, on the other hand? You were slumped, hesitant, and the slightest bit annoyed by whatever he was spewing.

“Come on, Eridan! Snap out of it. I know you’re smart. Use your brain!” Karkat begged.

Booksmart, maybe, but when it came to people, you might as well be a literary scholar trying to understand quantum mechanics. It wasn’t your field.

He wanted you to use logic, though. Access the memories. Was Karkat’s friendship really a replacement for Feferi’s?

You thought of Fef’s feigned concern, the long yawns when you called her up, the long waits between texts. You thought of how her interest was somewhere beyond you, how she drifted her eyes to the background, how she glanced to her phone the second it lit up.

You thought of Karkat’s attention only being taken by whatever lab assignment you were supposed to be working on. You thought of his deep expressions, easily read and so genuine. You thought of how quick he was to ask you things and throw about his advice.

You were right. Karkat couldn’t be a replacement. But when you thought about it, you didn’t want a replacement. You needed someone better.  
You caught Karkat’s eye briefly, and saw him glimmering with the same hope. Grabbing the front of his shirt, you yanked him in for a hug, resting your chin on his shoulder and just quivering there.

You found your friend, a real friend for once, in the filthy school bathroom. And you couldn’t be happier.


End file.
